Chapter 3: Did You Hear That? You’re Not From Around Here—Don’t Go Wandering Around Yuncheng

Sometimes, things just happen by coincidence.

Xiao Jin had skipped school for three days straight and finally received a handwritten letter of reprimand from Qiao Bailian. Half of the letter scolded him for skipping school to have fun, and the other half tried to persuade him to return to the right path. Of course, the most important part was the final sentence:

“If you don’t come back to school soon, I’ll write a letter to your father.”

That line alone gave Xiao Jin a massive headache, so he had no choice but to bring the letter of reprimand to the academy himself and admit his mistake.

The old man was stubborn—if he didn’t show up, he really would send a letter to Xiao Yunye, who was far away in the capital.

Who would have thought that just upon arriving at the academy, he’d stumble upon a scene like this? A pale, delicate-looking young man was running toward him, only to be tripped and fall to the ground, covered in dust. Even the square scarf hat on his head had been knocked askew, and his fair face was smudged with dirt—clearly, he was being bullied.

Xiao Jin wasn’t the type to meddle in other people’s business and originally intended to ignore it. But his hearing had always been sharp, and as he passed by, he just so happened to hear his own name mentioned—so he stopped in his tracks.

That’s when he heard, with his own ears, the fat guy calling him a good-for-nothing.

Already in a foul mood from the reprimand letter, Young Master Xiao’s fists immediately clenched.

Lu Shujin hadn’t expected that her shout would actually call Xiao Jin over.

After a few days apart, he still wore that perpetually disgruntled expression, his handsome brows and tightly pressed lips full of displeasure, as if the words “looking for trouble” were written all over his face.

She quickly scrambled up from the ground, knowing this wasn’t the time to say anything. While dusting herself off, she subtly took a few steps back.

The other three were scared out of their wits. The fat guy leaning on a walking stick had weak knees and looked like he was about to faint on the spot.

Xiao Jin cast an annoyed look at the fat guy in the middle and asked, confused, “You punk—do you spend every waking moment spreading rumors about me behind my back?”

The fat guy waved his hands frantically. “Young Master Xiao, it’s all a misunderstanding! A misunderstanding!”

Xiao Jin suddenly remembered something. “That rumor a while back about me stealing girls’ shoes and sniffing them at home—was that your doing too?”

Just thinking about it made Xiao Jin furious. He genuinely wanted to know which brainless idiot had started such a disgusting rumor that ruined his reputation. He had investigated for quite a while but couldn’t trace it to the source—mostly because there were already too many negative rumors about him in town.

The fat guy trembled in fear and denied it immediately, “It wasn’t me! Definitely not me!”

Xiao Jin didn’t bother arguing. He pointed at the fat guy and said, “Still talking tough, huh?”

Before the words were even out of his mouth, his fist had already flown out and landed squarely on the fat guy’s face—accompanied by a miserable scream.

Dealing with these three pushovers was effortless for Xiao Jin. He pinned them down and beat them up, leaving them crying, screaming, and begging for mercy. It was a pitiful sight.

Lu Shujin stood to the side watching and realized that Xiao Jin was very experienced in fighting. His punches never missed. Despite the three trying to dodge, they still took every hit directly. And he was arrogant about it too—he didn’t even bother with their bodies, only aimed for their faces. In no time, all three were bleeding from the nose, with swollen faces full of bruises and welts, looking like walking proof that they’d been beaten by him.

While she was watching intently, someone suddenly approached her and offered a brocade handkerchief, saying, “Here—wipe your face first.”

Lu Shujin glanced over. The speaker looked to be about seventeen or eighteen years old, lightly fanning himself with a jade-ribbed fan and smiling pleasantly.

She didn’t recognize him and didn’t take the handkerchief. She just said a polite “thank you” and wiped her cheek casually with the back of her hand.

“You’re Lu Shujin, right?” the young man asked.

Lu Shujin was slightly surprised that he knew her. “How do you know who I am?”

He replied, “Every year, Haizhou Academy only admits three students from humble backgrounds. You’re one of them. Most people at the academy have heard of you.”

Returning the courtesy, Lu Shujin asked, “And may I ask where you are from, young sir?”

“Shuoting,” Xiao Jin interrupted abruptly, cutting off their conversation.

He was tired from the beating and tossed aside the collar of one of the thugs, letting the three lie on the ground groaning in pain. He walked over, grabbed the brocade handkerchief that Ji Shuoting hadn’t managed to hand out yet, and casually wiped the blood off his hand as he asked, “When did you get here?”

Ji Shuoting’s smile instantly vanished as he watched his handkerchief get ruined, his refined demeanor slipping. He said with some heartbreak, “Xiao Jin! That was hand-embroidered for me by Little Xiangyu—and you’re just going to ruin it like that?”

Xiao Jin immediately pulled a face of disgust and threw the handkerchief back at him. Then he pulled out his own brocade handkerchief from his robe and continued wiping the blood off his hands.

The dried nosebleeds left dark, sticky stains across most of his pale hand, which looked quite disturbing. Watching this from the side, Lu Shujin’s eyelids twitched uncontrollably.

Looking at the bloodstained handkerchief, Ji Shuoting grimaced and sighed, “At least the embroidery on this was top-quality…”

“If you’re that envious, why don’t you go learn to embroider yourself?” Xiao Jin said coldly, jabbing at him.

Ji Shuoting was about to retort when a scolding voice suddenly rang out behind them: “Xiao Jin! Ji Shuoting! You two again!”

Both of them turned their heads at once and saw a middle-aged man striding toward them, pointing angrily at Xiao Jin even from a distance. “You’ve skipped school for three days, and now you come back just to stir up trouble at the academy. I’m reporting this to the headmaster—you’re getting punished for sure, you little troublemaker!”

When Xiao Jin saw who had arrived, his expression immediately changed. He said, “Master Tang, I was standing up for the weak and doing a good deed—this wasn’t me causing trouble!”

As he spoke, he reached out with his long arm and pulled Lu Shujin in front of him with ease. Lowering his head, he murmured in her ear, “You know what to say, right? Need me to teach you?”

Lu Shujin only felt a breath of warm air against her right ear, and in an instant, the tip of her fair ear turned red. She shrank her neck slightly and nodded, then took a subtle step forward to put some distance between them.

Though she had only been at Haizhou Academy for a few days, her memory was exceptionally good, so she remembered this imposing Master Tang who was marching toward them.

Tang Xueli was nearly fifty, but still in excellent health. He was a stern and rigid man who couldn’t tolerate even the slightest breach of discipline. Whenever he caught a student misbehaving, he would punish them harshly. He had once served as a royal tutor to the prince and was later hired at great expense by Haizhou Academy. As a result, he didn’t bother currying favor with anyone. Even the other teachers dared not provoke the infamous troublemaker Xiao Jin—but Tang Xueli wasn’t the least bit afraid of him. In fact, it had been Master Tang who had punished Xiao Jin previously by making him copy essays as a penalty.

So the moment Xiao Jin saw him, he knew things were about to go badly.

Lu Shujin, having been pulled in to shield him, felt a little nervous as well.

Sure enough, the moment Tang Xueli arrived and saw the three students lying on the ground, he immediately shouted in rage, “Xiao Jin! If you’re not here to study at Haizhou Academy, then pack up and go home! The world is wide enough for you to play around in—don’t come here and ruin the future of those who genuinely want to earn merit!”

His voice was loud, and standing right in front of Lu Shujin, it nearly left her ears ringing. With his face as dark as the bottom of a pot, his thick brows furrowed into a fierce glare—he was truly intimidating. Lu Shujin couldn’t help but feel a chill just looking at him.

Xiao Jin, however, seemed completely unfazed, as if he was long used to Tang Xueli’s scolding. Wearing the expression of someone beyond caring, he lazily raised an eyebrow and said, “Sir, please don’t wrongly accuse a good person. I only acted because I saw someone bullying the weak. I was doing the right thing.”

But Tang Xueli clearly didn’t believe him. With those three lying on the ground, their faces swollen and bloodied—and given Xiao Jin’s infamous track record—it would be hard for anyone to believe this was a righteous act.

“You still dare to argue?!” Tang Xueli barked.

The three on the ground, sensing the teacher’s support, began to cry even louder, wailing and moaning. The more Tang Xueli listened, the angrier he became.

At that moment, Lu Shujin suddenly stepped forward. She first stood properly and bowed with composure, then spoke slowly and clearly, “Please don’t be angry, sir. Earlier, I had a verbal dispute with these three. On my way home after class today, they stopped me here to ‘teach me a lesson.’ Young Master Xiao only stepped in after seeing me being attacked. This incident has nothing to do with him.”

“He beat them up this badly and you say it has nothing to do with him?” Tang Xueli sneered. To him, she looked like just another bootlicker hanging around Xiao Jin. He shot her a sharp look and said coldly, “What’s your name? Where are you from? So young and already good at flattering the powerful.”

Lu Shujin humbly lowered her head and answered calmly, “Student Lu Shujin, from Yangzhen. I came here alone to study.”

Tang Xueli paused upon hearing that. His expression shifted slightly, and he turned his head to study her more carefully.

The teachers at Haizhou Academy had naturally heard of Lu Shujin’s name. They knew she was one of the three underprivileged students personally admitted by Dean Qiao after overseeing the exams himself. She had been granted a full exemption from tuition—something unheard of. With no family background or connections, only true talent and knowledge could have earned her one of those three coveted spots.

Though Tang Xueli was known for being strict, he naturally held a degree of favor toward students who were talented and capable. Hearing her state her name, and seeing that she spoke and behaved with such proper manners and humility, his anger faded by more than half. His expression also eased as he said, “Even so, you shouldn’t defend Xiao Si, no matter what wrong he’s done.”

Lu Shujin replied, “I’m not defending anyone, sir. I’m simply telling the truth.”

Though her words were fair, she added, “If not for Young Master Xiao’s timely intervention, I’m afraid I wouldn’t have escaped unscathed today.”

Tang Xueli turned to look again. The three lying on the ground were still clutching their wounds and refused to get up. After all the rolling around, their clothes were filthy, not at all like the dignified image a Haizhou Academy student ought to present. His judgment began to tilt.

Xiao Jin noticed the subtle shift in Tang Xueli’s demeanor. Then his gaze dropped slightly and landed on the slender back of the young boy in front of him. When Lu Shujin spoke, she bowed her head slightly, her fine hair scattered over her pale neck—she looked utterly well-behaved.

Having spent a year at Haizhou Academy, Xiao Jin knew full well how difficult Tang Xueli could be. He was the one person he always tried to avoid. He had assumed today would end in a grueling scolding or punishment—but to his surprise, this scrawny little thing had diffused the situation with just a few well-spoken words.

Tang Xueli finally said, “Even if they were the ones who provoked things first, it’s still wrong to resort to violence against your fellow students. None of you can escape blame. Come with me to the repentance room to receive your punishment.” His warning gaze swept across Xiao Jin’s face and landed on Ji Shuoting. “You too—get over here!”

Ji Shuoting immediately wore a bitter expression. “Sir, I really was just passing by.”

But with a single glare from Tang Xueli, he shut his mouth and dared not say more.

As for the three who’d taken the beating, they lay groaning on the ground for quite some time before their household servants carried them off to the infirmary. Lu Shujin and the other two, however, followed Tang Xueli to the repentance room, where they were punished with the task of cleaning the academy’s Ritual Hall and writing three essay commentaries.

The Ritual Hall was located in the southeastern corner of the academy, tucked away in a secluded spot rarely visited by students. Inside stood several statues of revered scholars and teachers. Usually, the hall was only used once a year during the entrance ceremony, when students would offer incense and prayers—meant to remind them to honor their teachers, to wish for smooth studies, and to one day place highly on the imperial exam rankings.

Though the Ritual Hall was seldom used throughout the year, the academy regularly assigned students to clean it—usually those who had broken the rules.

When Lu Shujin unlocked the door with the assigned key, the lingering scent of burnt incense immediately wafted out. Dusk was falling, and the inside of the hall was dim. She first set down her broom and began lighting the lamps scattered around the room.

Xiao Jin followed behind her at a leisurely pace, broom slung casually over one shoulder, walking like he had no care in the world.

The Ritual Hall was quite spacious, with a large open area in the center. At the very front of the hall stood three statues of revered scholars, each nearly two meters tall. When Lu Shujin lit the lamps at the base of the platform, she had to crane her neck to barely catch a glimpse of the upper half of the statues. Their towering and solemn presence made her heart feel slightly heavy with awe.

She didn’t light many lamps—those hanging on the walls and the tall standing lanterns were too high for her to reach. So she only lit the shorter ones and the candleholders placed on the tables, leaving the hall dimly lit. Shadows from the columns and lantern stands cast a hazy pattern across the floor.

From the entrance, one could see her standing in the center of the platform, her neck tilted upward as she gazed at the stone statues. Her slender figure cast a long silhouette on the ground. Beneath the statues, she appeared even more thin and fragile, yet her posture was straight, her back held upright. The candlelight brushed softly against the pale sleeves of her robe.

Xiao Jin’s gaze lingered on her for a moment. Then, with a toss, he flung his broom aside. The sound startled Lu Shujin from her thoughts.

When she turned, she saw the unruly young master stretching lazily. As if it were second nature, he strolled over to a windowsill, pushed open a window, and slouched down to sit in the frame, showing no intention of doing any cleaning.

The summer wind, though hot and dry, grew cooler as it drifted in through the window and circled the hall, finally brushing against Lu Shujin. It carried a refreshing touch.

She glanced at the sunset clouds hanging in the western sky outside the window, and suddenly, a faint smile tugged at her lips.

Just a month ago, she had still been trapped in a small, dilapidated courtyard, staring longingly at the sunset from behind a window day after day, while listening to the people in the household busily preparing for her arranged marriage. The loneliness, helplessness, and fear she’d felt then had weighed on her like heavy shackles, choking her until even breathing felt like a struggle.

Yet now, though the scene before her looked so similar, she felt a genuine sense of ease in her heart. There was no longer any burden on her shoulders—only one thing remained: freedom.

Lu Shujin drew back her gaze, stepped toward the doorway, picked up her broom, and began sweeping from the entrance.

Though her aunt had assigned her a maid back then, living under someone else’s roof had meant doing most things herself. Small chores like sweeping had never been too tiring for her.

Xiao Jin remained slouched by the window, still and quiet. Lu Shujin focused on her task, and aside from the soft sounds of her footsteps and the broom brushing the ground, the Ritual Hall was silent. They existed in the same space, yet remained worlds apart.

Just as Lu Shujin began to think she might have to clean the entire hall by herself, Ji Shuoting appeared from outside. Behind him were several boys from the academy. The moment they entered, they began calling out to Xiao Jin, shattering the peace.

“So noisy—what are you yelling for?” came Xiao Jin’s annoyed voice.

Lu Shujin glanced up and recognized a few of the boys as the lackeys who had been hovering around Xiao Jin when she first met him at the academy. Each of them now held a broom and eagerly began cleaning the hall, their mouths chattering non-stop as they tried to curry favor.

“How could we let Brother Xiao do the work himself? This kind of exercise is perfect for us—just give us a shout next time.”

“Those fat brats totally deserved a beating. Getting punished for that? Utterly unfair!”

“I was wondering why my hands had been so itchy since this morning—it must’ve been because I was dying to help Brother Xiao clean the Ritual Hall…”

That flattery was a bit over the top. Lu Shujin quietly noted to herself.

Xiao Jin didn’t respond. He simply sat by the window with a faint smile on his face, half of his handsome profile outlined by the setting sun.

Ji Shuoting came over to him. Perhaps he had hurried on his way over, as his forehead was slightly damp with sweat. He grumbled, “I just knew nothing good ever comes from finding you. Now I’ve been dragged into this and punished with three essays too.”

“Who’s gonna write those damn things?” Xiao Jin replied dismissively with a snort.

The boys, eager to please, quickly divided up the Ritual Hall and got busy sweeping. Lu Shujin found herself squeezed out with nowhere to go, eventually retreating to the doorway. From there, she could hear the two talking. She thought to herself: people say Xiao Jin is an idle good-for-nothing, and they’re not wrong. He didn’t even care about the punishment handed down by Master Tang, and there wasn’t the slightest trace of respect for his teacher in either his words or demeanor.

“If you don’t write them and get caught, you’ll get another round of scolding. You know how stubborn Master Tang is,” Ji Shuoting warned nervously.

Xiao Jin didn’t respond. It was clear he had no intention of writing them and couldn’t be bothered to listen.

After a while, the boys who were cleaning started chatting idly.

“This is already the fourth case in the last two months. When I left the house this morning, my mom told me again not to go anywhere isolated.”

“What’s going on?” Xiao Jin overheard and called out.

Someone quickly answered, “That missing person case from two months ago. The magistrate’s office got another report a couple of days ago, and still no clues.”

“My uncle works at the magistrate’s office,” a skinny, monkey-faced boy chimed in. “He said all the missing people were women from out of town.”

They were all young and naturally curious about strange happenings, so the topic sparked quite a lively discussion.

Xiao Jin, however, wasn’t interested. He hopped down from the window and walked toward the door. As he passed Lu Shujin, he paused and turned to look at her. Suddenly, he said, “Did you hear that? They were all from out of town. Don’t go wandering around Yuncheng.”

Lu Shujin raised her face to meet his gaze. Looking into his eyes, she felt a brief moment of panic and quickly turned her head away, saying, “The ones who went missing were all women. I’m not.”

Xiao Jin’s gaze swept across her face, and he muttered, “Sure don’t look like it.”

Lu Shujin lowered her lashes slightly and replied, “Young Master Xiao would do well to be cautious himself—avoid walking alone at night.”

So you don’t get stuffed in a sack and beaten senseless.

To her surprise, this fool caught on to her implication immediately and laughed in exasperation. “What are you trying to say?”

“Just a word of concern,” she said lightly.

“You better mean it.” Xiao Jin jabbed a finger in her direction, then swaggered off without another word.

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